Black Birds
by Pugnacious Peace
Summary: MNEM-CENTRIC. Part of the Tellus Universe. RATING MAY CHANGE. SUMMARY: "I...I was meant to protect. I was only born to protect the planet from the Dragon once my father passed. These stories... They're mine and mine alone. They're memories I wish I could live without but they have made me into what I am today... Perhaps now you will understand why I do this."
1. Memory Number One : Spar

**Don't worry guys! I'm still working on Tellus/City of the Fallen, I just wanted to get this little Mnem short out of my way so I could keep working. xD Hope you like it! Maybe it'll even give you a little insight as to why he acts the way he does.**

**Inspiration for these comes from 'Black Birds' by Linkin Park. Everything (Minecraft, Linkin Park, everything I mention, basically…) belongs to their respective owners. **

* * *

"Mnem!"

"Coming, Mama."

The youth was handsome in every sense of the word, if a little… _pretty_. He had a quiet elegance about him as he made his way down the steps, gray eyes falling on his mother's thin frame. Black hair framed a perfect pale face, only a few blemishes to speak of. Though his lips were cracked due to the weather, he seemed to be nothing but a doll, emotionless and apathetic. He wasn't too terribly tall, quite yet. After all he was only nearing eleven. What he lacked in height, however, he made up for in-

"Your father wanted to spar with you, today."

…Fighting. He was nothing against his father but Mnem was a force to be reckoned with by others – and while he preferred to be the peace maker he was more than capable of holding his own.

"Yes, mother." Mnem murmured, bowing softly and stepping outside. The sky was clouding up and he just _knew_ it would rain soon. Perhaps with any luck it would be just enough to cool it off a little outside…-

A blade flew through the air. Mnem did not react, his eyes glaring at the man who threw it. Blood trickled from the small cut on his cheek and Mnem looked down, then behind him, pulling the blade from the wall of the house. "Mom won't appreciate that," Mnem started, tossing the blade and looking at his father, who chuckled and withdrew a sword.

"Yes, I suppose she won't. Tell you what. Loser takes the blame."

Mnem smirked, looking up at the sky. "Wait for it."

The man followed his son's gaze, frowning in annoyance.

_Drip_

Mnem shot forward, letting out a warning growl. His father looked down, smirking and blocking the attack with his own sword as he jumped out of the way. Mnem was right behind him, lifting his leg and hitting his elder in the cheek with his heel, throwing the blade behind him. "C'mon," Mnem snarled, smirking and bouncing on his feet in a fighting stance, "don't hide behind some useless metal, you and I both know that isn't a show of strength, it's a sign of cowardice."

The man looked down at the weapon before smirking, throwing it down on the ground and dropping into his own stance.

"Say the word, kid."

"…Word."

* * *

Lightning hit the ground and thunder sounded shortly after. All was brightened for that short second, and the battle ended – black hair dripped water onto the older man's face, the slim body of the teenager pinning him on the grass. "Give up?" Mnem smirked, his lips inches from the man's face, eyes narrowed as he breathed heavily, the rain soaking his back.

"You two." The voice sounded somewhere behind them and Mnem stood, dusting himself off needlessly, looking back at his mother. She sighed and shook her head. "…Get inside. Dinner is ready."

Mnem smirked and sauntered away from the man in his victory, leaving the elder behind.


	2. Memory Number Two : Bodies

**In case you don't notice, these memories are NOT in chronological order. Just letting you know.**

* * *

"_Papa?"_

_A glare. The darkened brown eyes glare at the youth standing before him, said boy shrinking away in fear. "…M…Mama told me to come get you."_

"_Of course she did. Tell her I'm working."_

_Mnem frowned, crossing his arms indignantly. "But… but you're **always** working! What about us?"_

_The brunette sitting at the desk sharpened his eyes dangerously and Mnem attempted to leap away, but his smaller legs prevented him from doing so. The hand swiped across his face and the fingers gripped his hair, yanking him back down to the floor as the older man pressed him against stone, the air hot and stuffy and…_

_**Had it always been so unbearable in here?**_

"_Let me tell you a story."_

_Mnem attempted to protest, but his father's hand clamped over his lips with a threatening "Shh!"_

_He smirked. "Do you know why I do this, child?"_

_Mnem shook his head slowly, gray eyes misted. _

"_Because if I didn't, the entire world burns."_

_Mnem tried to escape as his father gripped his wrist and stood, his lips released and his voice coming out in a high pitched squeal. His mother came around the corner in anger, gripping her sword. "Put him d-"_

"_I'm _teaching him_, woman!" he screamed, dragging Mnem through the house and outside, finding their way down to the caves. All the while, the youth screamed and flailed, unable to gain purchase on anything beneath him. _

"_Please, Papa- I understand! I understand I just-"_

"_Shut up, you brat…" the man snapped, opening a heavy door. Mnem yelped as he was thrown into the darkness, falling down the pit. He slammed into something softer, something **meatier**, but for a few moments he was so shocked and confused that it never registered. The smell had, however. He sniffed and wrinkled his nose, opening his eyes and looking beneath him._

_Cold, misted blue eyes stared back. _

_He let out a shrill cry, pulling away from the corpse. He tripped over another, falling on a third. He covered his head, shaking it quickly and squeezing his eyes closed. "Papa please…"_

"_Those are the bodies of those who have stood in my way. Would you like to join them?" His father shouted down to him, and Mnem trembled, tearing up and letting a few choked sobs escape his lips. He shook his head again, barely whispering, _

"…_no…"_

"_Now come here."_

_Mnem found himself being grabbed by his wrist, pulled out of the pit and into the arms of his father. _

"_I have things to show you, child." He snarled at the six year old, dragging him back out of the caves. The boy followed compliantly, screwing up his face as he attempted to understand. _

"_Read these." His father snapped, throwing a journal onto the boy's chest. Mnem blinked and opened the book gingerly, thumbing through the pages. "Read those and understand, child. When you are of age, it will be the day where __**only**_ _you are able to follow our traditions. I expect much of you."_

"_Y-yes… father…"_


	3. Memory Number Three : Rituals

**And another for Black Birds. Kinda hit a bit of a stopping point in CotF for a moment, I'll get back to it soon, I swear. xD**

* * *

Mnem leaned against the wall, staring at the carnage. Eyes slowly closed before fluttering open again and he swallowed dryly, clenching his jaw in attempts to keep himself from breaking down. He's witnessed this before… but today, brutality was simply not enough to describe the scene.

A mother sobbed before it was cut short abruptly, the awful ripping of flesh sending a shiver through Mnem's entire body. His legs felt rubbery, his knees nearly buckled. His vision blurred as he attempted to focus on something – _anything_ – and he was forced to close them again as the sickness washed through him in waves. His breakfast that morning nearly came back up but he kept it back, forcing himself to look up.

The weapon was placed back in his hands and his father was in his face, eyes piercing through Mnem's core.

"And that is how you do it. Do you understand now?"

_I have to stop him. Somehow._

_I have to._

_If I don't…_

"Yes… father…" The groans and grunts of the living dead filled the air and he winced, watching one stagger toward him. Mnem wrenched away from it and followed his paternal figure, stumbling about as he attempted to keep up.

His mother had long ago abandoned them – they were completely alone, now… and Mnem feared for both his own life and those of the innocent.

As he lay in bed and stared at the ceiling he felt the stresses of the day piling up again. He slid out of the bed and swayed as he attempted to stand, moving down the steps on unsure feet. As soon as he opened the door and made it a safe distance away he heaved, emptying his stomach. The screams of horror and pain and anguish and suffering and _fear_ raced through his memory and made quite the noise, filling him to the point of no return. He was unable to think of anything but… but _that_.

He ran. He didn't even remember standing up but he came back to reality as he slowed down, spotting the torches some ways away from him.

His grandfather's home was rather small and uncomfortable but the man himself was homely, wearing a smile that Mnem had never seen him without. Of course… of course, today would be a little different, he supposed. Nobody wanted to hear that their son was a murderer.

"Grandpa?" Mnem called after knocking, frowning and listening to the shuffling feet as they came closer. The boy's eyes caught sight of his grandfather's older body, smiling weakly and emptily. "…Can… I need to speak with you alone."

"Where's your father?"

Mnem shook his head. "Home. That's why I'm here. Let me in?"

They spoke quickly and in hushed voices, the smaller frame finally succumbing to fear and sobbing in his hands, shaking his head quickly, and the elder holding his shoulders comfortingly.

"_I know how to fix this_." The man had murmured, and Mnem glanced up, blinking.

"_You do?_"

"_I do. We send him to…_"

When the words were spoken, Mnem hardly believed them.

It'd been a difficult task – but still, as he lay in the center of the crescent moon painted in the grass, gasping for breath and his eyes rolling back in exhaustion, he knew _he just knew_ that it was over and done. If all went according to plan, Herobrine would never escape The End. Never would he endanger another life.

By the time the ritual had been successful, the Skeletons and Zombies were unstoppable. They had begun to appear in places far away from their original point and Mnem had the feeling that they would be there for a long while. They wouldn't be going away any time soon and he was nowhere near strong enough to send them back – and, even if he had been, he hadn't the knowledge to do so.

As he releases his hold on the waking world, he releases a short breath and his head lolls to the side, lips parted as the sun rose. His flesh was illuminated and the rays brought to him a new life, a new day and a new way of learning and living.

This… _this_ was the change.


	4. Journal Entry One : Eyes

**Language and a bit of insanity exists here! Mnem you're a bad, bad boy.**

* * *

_You. You hear me breathing… I know you can. In, out, in, out, in- I hold it. But I don't have to tell you that – you **hear** it. I know you can, don't lie to me._

_I don't know why I'm writing this. I really don't – I know I know I know I know you can't see it. I know you can but I know you can't because you're here and you're not and you're always **right fucking there** and I **can't drive you away**. I've tried, oh, **God** I've tried. You bastard, you should've disappeared when we sent you to Her. You shouldn't be here but I can feel your eyes on me – I feel them now, in fact. As I'm sitting here in my comfy little chair in my cozy little cave under the goddamn surface of the water, I know you're here. I know it. Perhaps it's simply my loneliness talking – I've been without human contact for so long it may be getting to me. But you… Oh, **you**._

_You murderer. You vile, sick, **sadistic** bastard. You kill innocent people and you assume it's for the best and you assumed I would follow you until I ended up in my grave but you were wrong oh God you were wrong because I couldn't watch your reign of terror anymore and I couldn't – I just **couldn't**. You claimed you were a fucking **God**. I knew you thought you were. I knew you thought you were above us all but you weren't. You never will be. I hope that damned Dragon swallows you whole and spits you out as a bloody mess and buries your remains. I don't know what it's like in The End but I hope it's absolutely miserable._

_I thought it was over I thought you were gone I thought we got rid of you I thought I thought I thought I **knew** you'd been sent away. So why do I hear you breathing at night? Why do I hear you whispering to me as I lay awake in the early hours of the morning, trying my damnedest to bring myself to get out of bed in the morning? Why do I feel your cold fingers on my face or digging into my skin?_

_Why do I see your eyes staring at me from beneath the waves?_


End file.
